Planetarium

Enjoy a full-dome science film, a live, night sky tour taught by one of our world-class educators, a fascinating talk from a renowned scientist, or even a live rocket launch, projected right onto the dome. At night, the planetarium becomes even more than a science theater. Enjoy stunning laser rock spectacles, featuring all your favorite music, unique live concert events under a canopy of stars, movie nights in 4K, and exclusive one-off events you do not want to miss!

Whether you visit the Lohman Planetarium as part of your day at MOAS, or are joining us for a unique event, there are plenty of programs that will capture your imagination.

Planetarium 2.0 Programming

Planetarium 2.0 is more than an upgrade, as our science team has been working to build a “next level” educational experience! From June 29th to September 1, 2024, we bring space down to earth in a whole new way! Each week we cover a specific topic within the realms of astronomy, spaceflight, S.T.E.A.M, and history. These weeks, covering the sun, earth, moon, and beyond will highlight some of the next-level programming that the Lohman Planetarium team has been developing with our new system. This will be some of the most comprehensive and enriching programming our team has worked on, and it illustrates what the planetarium will be bringing for the future, so you don't want to miss it! 

Week of the Sun (July 1 - July 5)

Celebration of all things solar!

1:00pm The Little Star That Could
This imaginative story follows Little Star, an average yellow star that is on a quest to find his name and any planets that might be his companions. Along the way, he learns about planets, stars, star clusters, nebula, and even galaxies. Now featuring a planetarium first, subtitles! 

2:00pm Live Show: Seeing our Sun from Earth and Space
How did our star form? What can observations of our sun, both here on earth and in space, tell us about other stars within our universe? This live planetarium show takes guests on a journey deep into the fiery nature of our parent star. 

3:00pm Outdoor Solar Observing (weather permitting)
Join our science team in the MOAS courtyard from 3:00pm-4:00pm where you can observe the sun safely through our state-of-the-art solar telescopes. 

4:00pm The Sun Our Living Star
Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun's violent surface in immersive full dome format. 

Week of the Earth (July 8 - July 12)

A look at our pale blue dot. 

1:00pm Little Star That Could
This imaginative story follows Little Star, an average yellow star that is on a quest to find his name and any planets that might be his companions. Along the way, he learns about planets, stars, star clusters, nebula, and even galaxies. Now featuring a planetarium first, subtitles! 

2:00pm Live Show: Pale Blue Dot - Our Earth from Space
A planetarium show about well, our planet! Take a trip across Earth, from the jagged peaks of mountain ranges to the deepest canyons, this live spacetime Odessey focuses on the most important planet in the universe (to us, at least). 

3:00pm Birth of Planet Earth
A full dome show that tells the twisted tale of our planet's origin. The film employs advanced, data-driven, cinematic-quality visualizations to explore some of the greatest questions in science today: How did Earth become a living planet in the wake of our solar system's violent birth? What does its history tell us about our chances of finding other worlds that are truly Earth-like?

4:00pm Expedition Reef
Learn the secrets of the "rainforest of the sea" as you embark on an oceanic safari of the world's most vibrant - and endangered - marine ecosystems. 

Week of the Moon (July 15 - July 19)

Apollo, Artemis, and the story of our lunar neighbor.

1:00pm Little Star That Could
This imaginative story follows Little Star, an average yellow star that is on a quest to find his name and any planets that might be his companions. Along the way, he learns about planets, stars, star clusters, nebula, and even galaxies. Now featuring a planetarium first, subtitles! 

2:00pm Live Show: The Moon and the Sky Tonight!
We'll look at the moon's phases through the week and see how science reveals some of its shadowy nature. A planetarium first, this show features astrophotography captured by our MOAS science team. 

3:00pm Moonbase: The Next Step
The story of this human endeavor, pushing scientific and technological advances to the limit. Traveling the 250,000 miles and surviving the hostile and alien conditions of reduced gravity, extreme temperatures, and toxic lunar dust, we explain the science and technology for this brave mission to happen. Follow our story filled with awe, danger, trepidation, and share the wonder of the lunar environment made for 360 full dome format. Prepare for a hostile and breathtaking lunar experience. 

4:00pm Laser Rock Concert: Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Based on Pink Floyd's 1973 album of humanitarian, political, and philosophical empathy, Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most bizarre laser light shows of all time. 

ATTENTION: The 2:00PM Planetarium Show on Tuesday, July 16 has been substituted for the Soapbox History Talk: UAP's (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena).

ATTENTION: The 4:00PM Planetarium Show on Friday, July 19 has been canceled.

Week of the Planets (July 22 - July 26)

Planet palooza! 

1:00pm Little Star That Could
This imaginative story follows Little Star, an average yellow star that is on a quest to find his name and any planets that might be his companions. Along the way, he learns about planets, stars, star clusters, nebula, and even galaxies. Now featuring a planetarium first, subtitles! 

2:00pm Live Show: Flight Through the Solar System
A classic live show returns to a new era of the Planetarium. Using the most detailed model of our solar system to date, we journey from our own museum courtyard to the outermost fringes of the Sun's influence, stopping along the way to visit the rich worlds of our home system. 

3:00pm Planet tours in the MOAS Portable Planetarium (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
Showcasing the Lohman Planetarium's state-of-the-art outreach equipment, our science team invites the public for a look inside our on-the-go mobile planetarium. 

Week of the Cosmos (July 29 - August 2)

Billions and billions, the vast space beyond.

1:00pm Beyond the Sun (A NEW Children's Show)
While Celeste is fighting off sleep in her room by reading a book on astronomy she receives an unexpected visit from Moon. Together, they will enjoy a journey through the Universe to discover what exoplanets are and how they can be detected. They observe rogue planets, oceanic worlds, the super-Earths. Moon tells her about exoplanet hunters, who observe the sky in search of planets like Earth. Many adventures are yet to come. but first she needs some rest. Celeste drops off to sleep waiting for her next visit of Moon. 

2:00pm Live Show: Unfolding the Universe: The James Webb Space Telescope
The universe as seen like never before. This show is a tour deforce through our observable cosmos, as viewed from the mirrors of one of astronomy's greatest instruments, the James Webb Space Telescope. 

3:00pm Planetarium Lobby Tours of the James Webb Space Telescope images
If you missed our widely popular exhibit, Unfolding the Universe: The James Webb Space Telescope, you're in luck! Planetarium 2.0 sees the return of many of the wondrous images displayed in this groundbreaking exhibition covering astronomy's flagship space telescope. 

Week of Exploration (August 5 - August 9)

3, 2, 1, 0 and liftoff!

1:00pm Dawn of the Space Age
Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of Man's first steps into space. 

2:00pm Live Show: Lift Off - A Spaceflight Odessey
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle, and Artemis; it's all systems go for this deep dive into the world of human spaceflight. This show has all the right stuff! 

3:00pm Rocket Retrospective: Spaceflight Archival Video
Have you always wanted to see a shuttle launch? Do you want to relive the glory days of Apollo? We got you covered this week! Each day features a reel taken from NASA's spaceflight archive on some of the most historic events in spaceflight history. 

Week of Art (August 12 - August 16)

From starry nights to worlds of tomorrow.

1:00pm Beyond the Sun (A NEW Children's Show)
While Celeste is fighting off sleep in her room by reading a book on astronomy she receives an unexpected visit from Moon. Together, they will enjoy a journey through the Universe to discover what exoplanets are and how they can be detected. They observe rogue planets, oceanic worlds, the super-Earths. Moon tells her about exoplanet hunters, who observe the sky in search of planets like Earth. Many adventures are yet to come. but first she needs some rest. Celeste drops off to sleep waiting for her next visit of Moon. 

2:00pm Sonification of Space
Join us in the Lohman Planetarium at MOAS as we infuse mind-bending sound and beautiful astronomical imagery together for an immersive celestial experience. Using content from NASA's "Data Sonification" project, which converted various space telescope images into an auditory format, we will gain a unique perspective of the universe using multiple sensory methods. You will get to "hear" the visual data from objects like the Whirlpool Galaxy, Cat's Eye Nebula, Supernova 1987A, and even our own Milky Way's galactic center. Along the auditory journey, we will explore the insight we have gained from studying these celestial objects, and how the combination of art and science can enable a greater understanding of the universe. 

3:00pm Sci-Fi Space! A Look at How Art Shapes Science in the Space-Age 
From Starfleet command, through the sands of Arrakis, to a galaxy far far away, you'll embark on a journey into how the fictional worlds of Sci-Fi shape how we view space. A Lohman Planetarium first, this automated show was built fully in-house by our science team! 

Week of History (August 19 - August 23)

Ancient astronomy to modern astrophysics.

1:00pm Legends of the Night Sky: Perseus & Andromeda 
A fun-filled retelling of the tale of the beautiful but unfortunate princess Andromeda, who in divine punishment for her mother's bragging, is sacrificed to a sea monster - and rescued by the Greek hero Perseus. 

2:00pm Live Show: A Brief History of Astronomy
A stellar journey through the ages. This live show illustrates how our ancient observations of the sky led to our fundamental understanding of the cosmos. 

3:00pm Galileo: The Power of the Telescope
The film takes you back in time to Pisa, Italy, to experience Galileo's early experiments with gravity and the laws of motion, his advocacy of the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun, and his work with early telescopes. You see how his keen observations culminated in The Starry Messenger, an early masterpiece in which Galileo described all his dazzling discoveries in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way. 

Week of the Sciences (August 26 - August 30)

Telescopes, microscopes, beakers... oh my! 

1:00pm Dinosaurs: A Story of Survival (A NEW Children's Show)
Like most children, Celeste is fascinated with dinosaurs. As she is preparing a talk for her class about how they went extinct, Moon, a very wise and magical character, poses a tantalizing question: what if I told you that there were still dinosaurs among us? 

2:00pm Live Show: The Sky Tonight
The Lohman Planetarium returns with its classic tour of Daytona's starry night. Guests will explore the wonders of our evening sky from our seasonal constellations to deep sky objects like nebula and more! A planetarium first: this show will feature night-sky imagery and research collected by our MOAS science team! 

3:00pm Birth of Planet Earth 
A full dome show that tells the twisted tale of our planet's origin. The film employs advanced, data-driven, cinematic-quality visualizations to explore some of the greatest questions in science today: How did Earth become a living planet in the wake of our solar system's violent birth? What does its history tell us about our chances of finding other worlds that are truly Earth-like?

4:00pm Big Astronomy
Journey to three world-class observatories in Chile's rugged Andes Mountains and arid Atacama Desert - remote, extreme regions that happen to have the perfect conditions for astronomical research.